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Average SAT Scores Flat In Ga., Nationwide

French students work on the test of Philosophy as they take the baccalaureat exam (high school graduation exam) on June 17, 2013 at the Pasteur high school in Strasbourg, eastern France. Some 664.709 candidates are registered for the 2013 session. The exam results will be announced on July 5, 2013. AFP PHOTO/FREDERICK FLORIN (Photo credit should read FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

File photo of students taking a test. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s average score on this year’s SAT college entrance exam was unchanged from last year, mirroring a national trend as scores were generally stagnant from the previous year.

Nationwide, African-American students made slight gains, the College Board said Thursday.

In Georgia, the average score remained the same as last year at 1,452 out of a possible 2,400. The state had seen a seven-point increase when scores were announced in 2012.

“While we didn’t see the same gains this year that we did in 2012, I am proud that our students held their ground on the SAT,” State School Superintendent John Barge said in a statement. “We expect to see even better scores in the coming years as students become more engaged in their high school classes under our Career Pathways/Clusters initiative.”

Nationally, scores also remained about the same as the previous year. Students scored an average 496 in reading, down one point from 2011. Average math scores have remained stuck at 514 over the last three years. And the average writing score, 488, was down one point from 2011.

The top score possible on each section is 800 and the highest possible score is 2400.

A perfect score was achieved in 2013 by 494 people — less than a third of 1 percent of all test takers, according to the College Board, a nonprofit membership organization of schools and colleges that owns the exam.

Men, on average, scored better in reading and math, while women on average did better in writing.

African-American students across the country scored, on average, 431 in reading, 429 in math and 418 in writing. That’s slightly higher than the previous two years.